Sayyed Nasrallah Rejects US Presence in Iraq, We Stand by Army in Face of Israel, No for Normalization

On the soft normalization taking place with "Israel", Sayyed Nasrallah said Lebanon is committed not to normalize ties. "There are many in Lebanon who won't allow any means of normalizing ties with "Israel". No one is telling you we are against cinema and arts, but doing so under this pretext shows that the state isn't committed to this principle," he said.

(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Hezbollah Secretary General His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah delivered on Friday a speech in which he tackled various internal, regional topics.

Sayyed Nasrallah's speech came during a memorial ceremony held to commemorate the martyrdom of the Resistance men in Syrian Quneitra in 2015, as well as the 40th anniversary of late Haj Fayez Mughniyeh, the father of Martyr Leader Haj Imad Mughniyeh as well, two other Resistance men as well as the grandfather of the martyr Jihad Imad Mughniyeh.

Hailing the Resistance efforts, His Eminence viewed that it should be widely known that one can't talk about Lebanese security away from Hezbollah martyrs.

"When we talk about the reasons behind Daesh's [Arabic Acronym for the terrorist "ISIS"/"ISIL" group] defeat, the credit goes to our martyrs, their resilient families, the wounded who are now suffering and the fighters in several arenas," he added.

In parallel, His Eminence stressed that "the talk of the huge defeat of the American scheme in the region as well as the victories of the governments and the people of the region is due to those sacrifices of martyrs."

Mentioning some of late Haj Fayez Mughniyeh's traits, Sayyed Nasrallah said: "Haj Abu Imad is a modest, pure and patient believer, who spent his life supporting the Resistance's path. He was always present among the martyrs' families."

"Abu Imad's generation was divided into two, some encouraged their sons to join the Resistance, while others didn't prevent them from doing so," he stated, pointing out that "offering a martyr leader like Haj Imad is a blessing for the whole family. However, Haj Fayez also offered one of his grandsons."

The Resistance Leader went on to say: "From the blessings of Haj Abu Imad's family is to offer a man and an exceptional Resistance leader to in Lebanon and Palestine, the Marty Leader Haj Imad Mughniyeh."

In addition, His Eminence highlighted that "Haj Abu Imad asked in his will to be buried in his hometown, Tayrdebah . He wanted his family to continue to visit their village."Urging the people to follow Haj Fayez' path, Sayyed Nasrallah urged the families in Beirut to return to their ancestral towns so that they continue to remember their families and return to their homes in their original hometowns.

He also added that their existed plans by the government and the civil society to lift the burden off the capital, in terms of trash, traffic and drugs.

"We in Hezbollah are thinking about this. We want most of those who work in the south, to live in the south and those in the Bekaa to live there," His Eminence asserted., noting that "once the issue of transportation is resolved in Lebanon, things would be easier."

On another level, Sayyed Nasrallah rejected US fabrications of the so-called Hezbollah narco-terror network.

In this context, he rejected the baseless claims mentioned [in Politico] and the fact that theUS Justice Department formed a committee to investigate how Hezbollah is related to drugs, and how [former US President Barack] Obama opened the door for Hezbollah.

Clarifying that "drugs are against Hezbollah values," he confirmed that "according to Islamic doctrine, selling drugs to enemy societies such as the "Israeli" society is impermissible."

"This is our absolute commitment," he reiterated, noting that "Hezbollah proved that it was successful to fight terrorism. Thus, the US seeks to paint it as a criminal organization: trafficking drugs, auto theft. This is part of the war on us."

Meanwhile, His Eminence explained that "Hezbollah isn't even involved in permissible trade or investments. Hezbollah has not authorized anyone to run investment projects under its name. We don't have any money for investment. We need money for our arms. However, there are some rich people, but this is an individual thing. Hezbollah didn't allow anyone to speak in its name."

He then advised US statesmen to launch a full-scale investigation into the drug-related activities of their own intelligence bodies.

Commenting on the "Israeli" announcement that the entity intends to build a wall on the border with Lebanon, Sayyed Nasrallah underscored that "there are 13 disputed areas between Lebanon and "Israel". To us, we don't recognize "Israel". Thus, the disputed areas are to Lebanon or Occupied Palestine."

"The Lebanese government refused any "Israeli" move in the disputed areas," he said, announcing that "the Resistance supports the Lebanese government Army in their position."

To "Israel", His Eminence sent a sounding message: "I tell "Israel" to take the Lebanese warning's serious. We will uphold our responsibilities in this aspect."

On the soft normalization taking place with "Israel", Sayyed Nasrallah said Lebanon is committed not to normalize ties.

"There are many in Lebanon who won't allow any means of normalizing ties with "Israel". No one is telling you we are against cinema and arts, but doing so under this pretext shows that the state isn't committed to this principle," he said.

In this context, His Eminence mentioned Director Stephen Spielberg's new film "The Post".

"The issue is not with the movie but with the director - he is on the Lebanese blacklist because he had previously announced his support for 2006 "Israeli" brutal aggression against Lebanon. He even funded this war from his money. He paid $1 million to "Israel". And now the Lebanese are going to pay to this director and this money might go to "Israel". He paid $1 million to Israel [after the 2006 war]."

Regarding the recent bomb that targeted Hamas official in the Southern city, Sidon, Sayyed Nasrallah revealed that "all signs indicate that "Israel" was behind the assassination attempt."

"When the Lebanese security agencies conclude their investigations and find out that "Israel" is behind the attack, we hope that it is dealt with as a violation of the Lebanese sovereignty," His Eminence added.

According to His Eminence, "This is a dangerous beginning. I want to warn that the attack against the Hamas official represents the beginning of a dangerous security phase in Lebanon."

He said that the resistance will take its responsibilities in this sense.

On the coming Lebanese parliamentary elections, Sayyed Nasrallah said: "We support the state and we are not at the point where we have entered the elections phase and hence I will leave this discussion for the next few days in another televised speech."

"I just want to say that there is an atmosphere of accusations in the country, just to be fair I don't think that there is anyone in Lebanon who wants to delay or annul the elections," he stated.

However, he commented on the recent political disputes by saying: "There is no need to cause tension and say that the elections will be postponed. This country can't be governed by isolating anyone. We had previous experiences in this context."

"This country can only continue through dialogue, integration and coexistence, not through elimination and marginalization," His Eminence underlined.

Back to the regional front, Sayyed Nasrallah warned that "the Americans want to return to Iraq and Syria under the pretext of Daesh. This is while the entire world knows it was the US administration that created the Takfiri group."

"One of the major challenges Iraqi forces are to face is to reject the presence of US forces," he viewed.

To the Americans, His Eminence said: "If you want not to return to our region, ask your allies in the region and the world not to support Daesh."

He further slammed US President Donald Trump's use of "Islamic terrorism," noting that such a terminology clearly proves his animosity towards Islam and Muslims.

"There exists a continuous discrimination from Trump's administration, He uses the term "Muslim terrorism" on purpose. He has now come to discriminate against the African countries and Haiti."

In addition, Sayyed Nasrallah cautioned that "Trump will continue to pressure Arab countries. There also appears to be Arab pressure on Palestine for a deal that has been offered to them [by the US] as long as the Palestinians refuse the deal. There are Arab regimes that continue to pressure the Palestinians to accept the little presented to them."

Affirming the Resistance's rejection to the American arrogance and the Zionist scheme, Sayyed Nasrallah concluded: "We have created victories and we will protect our country and side."